"Our operational processes demand the highest water quality. And Evides delivers just that." Those are the words of Erwin Helwig. He is Engineering, Inspection & Environmental Manager at Q8 Kuwait Petroleum Europoort b.v., or Q8KPE. Helwig tells us about how important clean water is to the oil refinery.
Q8KPE is one of the businesses in the Botlek-Europoort area that is supplied with demineralised water from the Botlek Demineralisation Water Plant (DWP). This demineralised water undergoes further treatment at the site of the oil refinery. The polishing plant that forms part of this process was also built by Evides. "This plant ensures that the last bits of lime are removed from the water", Helwig explains. "We use this water for the production of steam, and the tiniest amounts of contamination in the water can seriously damage the boilers. So it's vital that this water is of the highest clean, chemical quality. Only then will the plants perform safely and reliably."
The production of steam
Early this year, Q8 took three new plants into use, including a new boiler complex for the production of steam. "The old boilers needed replacing after forty years", says Helwig. "This new plant is where the central energy production process takes place. The steam generated here is used to drive turbines and to support various production processes. The plant has a capacity of 120,000 kg/h (more than 100 MW of energy), which enables us to operate the entire refinery. That demands the highest quality of demineralised water. And Evides makes sure we get it."
Reduction of emissions
The new plants were not just built with a view to more stable operational management and a more efficient energy consumption. Environmental aspects are as important. For years now, Q8KPE has been investing in measures to reduce the emission of substances such as SO2 (sulphur dioxide) and NOx (nitrogen oxide) to a minimum. The investment in the new boiler complex will reduce NOx emissions by a quarter.
Silent, fast and professional
Helwig feels that the water supply has become more stable and reliable after the construction of the Botlek DWP. The special water treatment plant that Evides subsequently built at the Q8 site guarantees that the company continuously has the best quality of water at its disposal. "It's all extremely silent, fast and highly professional. We don't really notice that Evides is onsite. I guess that's the best compliment you can get, isn't it? The technical specialists of Evides Industriewater are very much team players and they come up with ideas. They've helped us reprocess and recycle some of the water that we process for instance. That's perfectly in line with our objective to jointly work on the recovery of the energy we need."
